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After the previous post about why brainstorming doesn’t work for many people, I received a number of comments from people who like to do it, but don’t get good results. If you’re a brainstorming person, and the method works for you, here are four keys that might make it more productive. By bringing multiple perspectives to the table, your team gains insight you might never have considered, plus you’re adding years of experience to solving the creative problem. But most brainstorming sessions don’t yield much – or fail completely. If that’s your problem, here’s four key reasons you’re not getting more from your creative team:

Everyone talks about “brainstorming,” and for most of us, it’s a normal part of the creative process. But for years, I’ve had my suspicions about brainstorming because honestly, it rarely works for me. Keep in mind that I’m a writer, so sitting in an empty room with nothing but my laptop is pretty close to heaven. But at the same time, I love being around people – especially when it comes to making projects happen. But in the cold, hard light of day – when it comes to generating ideas, I get a lot more done by myself than with a team. This short video captures why. Take a look and then tell me about your creative approach, and whether brainstorming is the big deal it’s supposed to be:

You may have missed this timely statistic, but India has the highest ‘open defecation’ rate in the world. As the British Telegraph reports, “With 620 million people creating 65 million kilograms of open waste each day. Only half of its population use toilets at all.” To answer that challenge, UNICEF has launched a new campaign called “Let’s Take the Poo to the Loo” – or more formally, the “Poo To Loo Initiative.” As the Telegraph describes it:

When most advertisers create media campaigns or television commercials, they usually assume the target audience is similar to them. Church, ministry, and nonprofit communicators often do the same. But a recent story in the Wall Street Journal reminded me just how different people are – and why it matters for sharing our message. For instance, we normally think of Christmas as a time of love, sharing gifts, and loving the time spent with family. But recently, the journal reported a survey conducted by British hotel chain TraveLodge:

Recently, I’ve run into a number of companies, nonprofits, and churches who’s leaders have real trouble making good decisions (some have trouble making decisions at all). Good decisions matter, and here’s a few of the keys to making the kind of decisions that will take your career to the next level:

People have a lot of high-minded ideas about creativity, and as a result, have trouble integrating their creativity into Hollywood, or the advertising industry. But this quote from Ron Shelton, director of the movie “Bull Durham” tells it like it is:

From time to time you may get a book published, produce a movie, lead a major event, or do something else significant and have the opportunity to work with a public relations firm or publicist. Their job is to attract attention to your book, film, movement, business – whatever. But hiring a publicist isn’t a magic button. Perhaps in the old days of legacy media, you hired a publicity expert and then sat back and collected big paychecks based on book sales. But not today. To work successfully with a PR expert or publicist, here’s some important keys:

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About Phil

An internationally known writer and speaker, Phil Cooke has actually produced media programming in nearly 50 countries around the world. In the process, has been shot at, survived two military coups, fallen out of a helicopter, and in Africa, been threatened with prison. And during that time – through his company Cooke Pictures in Burbank, California – he’s helped some of the largest nonprofit organizations and leaders in the world use the media to tell their story in a changing, disrupted culture.

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An internationally known writer and speaker, Phil Cooke has actually produced media programming in nearly 50 countries around the world. In the process, has been shot at, survived two military coups, fallen out of a helicopter, and in Africa, been threatened with prison. And during that time – through his company Cooke Pictures in Burbank, California – he’s helped some of the largest nonprofit organizations and leaders in the world use the media to tell their story in a changing, disrupted culture.